


Stay on These Roads

by Dee_in_between



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove & Eleven | Jane Hopper Friendship, Billy Hargrove Redemption, Boys Kissing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Family Reunions, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Post-Season/Series 03, Recreational Drug Use, Road Trips, Shotgunning, Slow Burn, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Surfing, Tourism, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 13:56:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20707136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dee_in_between/pseuds/Dee_in_between
Summary: [re upload. Deleted by mistake.]"Harrington, I swear to God, if you came all the way up here to tell me you got laid-""You said you haven't seen your mom in twelve years," Steve said, letting himself inside and diving right in."What?" Billy looked at him with curiosity and concern. He seemed almost manic, making Billy worried that he may have taken something."That night when we were waiting for the kids and Elvis came on," Steve explained. "You said you haven't seen her in twelve years."Billy stared at Steve, still not following. "Yeah? And?'Steve's smile grew impossibly wider and he took Billy by the shoulders."Do you want to?"Billy and Steve hit the road to reunite Billy with his mom. Two hours in, Steve reveals this is the first time he's left Indiana in his life. Billy will not stand for this. The road just got considerably longer and maybe they'll find out some things about themselves along the way.





	Stay on These Roads

#

Prologue:

Billy stood on the porch, staring at the camaro in the early morning light. She was stuffed to the gills with bags. Clothes, snacks, a cooler with water and soda and the sandwiches Joyce had packed for them. Talking about it had been one thing. Now that it was here, Billy felt his chest ache. A big hand landed on his shoulder, making his heart jump. He flinched away, his eyes flashing and jaw setting. Seeing Hopper, the defensive stance melted away.

“Sorry, kid.” His voice was warm and soft as it ever was and he moved slower this time. He laid his hand on Billy’s shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. “You checked your tires? Lights? Tank’s full?”

Billy nodded. “She’s good to go.” Hopper reached into his pocket, pulling out rolls of dimes and putting them in Billy’s hand. 

“I have money, Hop,” Billy told him, trying to hand it back. Hopper pushed it away.

“For a payphone. If you need us.”

Billy dropped his head, jaw working even as he smiled. If you need us. He still wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to having adults he could count on. Real friends. He and Max had been living with Jane and Jim since the disaster at Strarcourt. Waking up at the hospital and seeing the man asleep in a chair next to his bed was a surprise to say the least, though not as much as having Jane and Max each curled up in the bed beside him. Recovery was a process and that didn’t just mean physical therapy and the liquid diet he had to stay on for nearly a year. He had to learn a whole new life. He spent the first few months with his hands up, ready to fight his way out and defend himself. Neil was a bastard but Billy more or less knew what to expect. Jim was an unknown and he was big. Much bigger than his dad. But Jim never raised a hand to him. Never even raised his voice. It took almost the entire first year for Billy to learn that he wasn’t going to get hit or screamed at. 

It was still hard sometimes to believe the rug wasn’t about to be ripped out from under him. He had to remind himself that he had people that cared about him now and that their feelings were real. Jane was good at helping him remember that. 

“Thank you,” Billy said softly. Jim smiled and, to Billy’s surprise, pulled him in for a hug. His hackles went up and his whole body tensed. But Hopper was big and warm and he would never hurt Billy. On top of that, it would be a little while before he saw the big lug again. He relaxed into the embrace, tucked his face into the man’s shoulder and hugged him back tightly. 

Joyce came onto the porch of Hopper’s cabin, smiling kindly at the pair of them. She was another person whose support Billy hadn’t expected but she had taken him and Max into the fold like they’d never been anything but hers. She waited for Billy and Jim to pull apart.

“I made you boys something for the road,” she said, holding out two foil wrapped parcels. The warmth from them seeped into Billy’s hand. Joyce made the best breakfast burritos and Billy wasn’t inclined to give one up when he could get it. 

“He doesn’t get his ass down here, I’m not sharing,” Billy called, loud enough to carry into the house. As if on cue, Steve came out the front door, tugging his shirt on. 

“Don’t you dare! One of those is mine, asshole!”

Billy lifted them over his head, a shit eating grin on his face. He played keep away for a bit. It was still entertaining to fuck with the guy every once in awhile but the energy was different these days. There was no ill intent, no toxicity between them anymore.

“Billy,” a voice said from the door. Jane and Max stood in the doorway of the cabin in their pajamas, the former giving him an expectant look. 

“Alright, fine.” He handed over Steve’s, the smile never leaving his face. Jane smiled softly in approval. She came up to Billy and held her arms out. 

Billy stuffed the dimes into his pocket, bent over and hugged her tight, Jane’s arms curling around his neck and their cheeks pressing together hard. He knew this goodbye was going to be the hardest. 

“Remember to be good,” Jane reminded him softly. Billy smiled and squeezed her tighter.

“Even when it’s hard,” he recited. She nodded against him and they pulled away. Her hand landed on his cheek just as it had that night in the mall and he laid his bigger palm over hers, leaning into the touch. She stared at Billy in that way she had that felt like she was looking through him. Like she was peering into his soul. Finally, she spoke.

“She’ll be so happy.”

It shouldn’t hit so hard anymore. Jane always seemed to know what he was thinking. She always saw the softest parts of him. It still felt like someone had punched the air out of him. Because Jane knew his fears. And she always seemed to know just what to say to put them to rest. 

“You think so?”

“I know so,” she told him. Billy smiled and hugged her all over again. He reached for Max and she came over to join in. She buried her face in his chest and her hand balled into a fist at the back of his shirt.

“I’ll miss you.”

A year and a half ago, Billy would have never believed Max could possibly miss him. He wouldn’t have thought anyone would miss him. But they’d come a long way together without Neil to overshadow everything. 

“I’m comin’ back, shitbird.” Max didn’t seem like she believed him but she clung to him all the same. 

Steve cleared his throat behind them and Billy reluctantly let the girls go. They needed to get on the road if they wanted to make any progress before they hit morning traffic. 

“Let’s get going, Harrington.” Steve had said his goodbyes to his own ducklings at the send off party last night. The four of them were still out cold and snoring on the living room floor in their sleeping bags and it was probably best to let them stay that way for a little bit longer. 

He and Steve made their way off the porch and to the car, climbing in and slamming the doors shut. Billy sat there for a moment, hands on the wheel and just staring. This was it. He was really going. He was going to see her. 

“Hey. You okay man?”

Billy didn’t answer. He took a deep breath and turned the key. 

“Let’s do this.”

Chapter 1: 

Three Months Earlier

“Are you kidding me with this, Harrington?”

“What?” Steve asked defensively. They were sitting in Steve’s car outside the arcade, waiting for their respective kids to come out. Rather than waiting alone, Billy had parked the camaro and climbed in with Steve. It was nice to lounge and just hang out with the guy sometimes. 

“Everyone likes Taylor Dane.”

“Everyone does not,” Billy argued, nose wrinkling in distaste. 

“Alright, fine,” Steve said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s find something else.”

He turned the dial on the BMW’s stereo, “Tell it to My Heart” cutting off abruptly. There was static for a bit, bits and pieces of songs and talk radio cutting in and out. Billy stopped Steve when he heard a familiar guitar. 

“Let it there.”

“Elvis? Really?”

Billy didn’t respond to Steve’s teasing. He took a drag from his lit cigarette and held it, letting the music wash over him.

“Let it play.”

Steve tilted his head curiously and Billy could feel the other boy’s eyes on him as he exhaled. He didn’t say anything, sat quietly in the passenger’s seat staring out the windshield and listening to the cords. 

Are you lonesome tonight  
Do you miss me tonight  
Are you sorry we drifted apart

“I didn’t pin you as a guy for the classics,” Steve said, not judgmentally. More curious. Billy shrugged.

“He was my mom’s favorite.” He took another drag.

“Susan likes him?”

“She’s not my fucking mom!”

Steve startled, hands raising defensively. “Sorry, man.”

Billy sighed, smoke blowing from his nose. He tried to calm himself down. To remember that Steve didn’t know. He hadn’t meant anything by it. 

“She’s not my mom,” he said again, quieter this time. Steve settled back in his seat, still looking apologetic. It was quiet for a beat, neither of them wanting to break the silence. Steve spoke first. 

“So your mom,” he tried again. “She liked Elvis?”

“She liked a lot,” Billy said with a shrug. “But Elvis was always tops for her.” He couldn't help the way his lips curled softly upwards at the memories of her. Memories of them. Just them when Neil was gone or busy and they had the house to themselves. He remembered the way she used to dance around the kitchen while she cooked. How they would do the dishes together and flick soap bubbles at each other. 

"When she was happy, she would sing. Lotsa stuff. But when he came on she'd get this far off look in her eye. Like she could feel the music more than she could hear it."

Steve was quiet, processing what Billy told him. Billy didn't share such personal things often and he didn't want to do anything to make him feel like he couldn't do so in the future. 

"Can I ask what happened to her?"

Billy took another slow drag, his eyes falling shut. It was hard to talk about. His father had blamed him for her leaving. Told him it was his fault because he couldn't behave. But he spoke to her. Billy knew the truth. 

"She got out," he answered. "She made it out of there alive. But Neil wasn't going to let it be without a price. Judge gave him full custody."

"When's the last time you saw her?"

Billy didn't have to think about it for more than a few seconds. "Twelve years and four months." 

The car went quiet again, only the music to fill the silence. 

Tell me darlin'  
Are you lonesome tonight

They sat in silence until the kids came out, holding their prizes and fighting over who really won burger time if the game glitched. Billy drove Max and Jane home, leaving the classics playing the whole way and when they got home he went upstairs and listened to 'Are You Lonesome Tonight" on repeat.

Steve didn't bring it up again after that night and neither did Billy. Six weeks later, Billy had all but forgotten that night in the car. He was spending a night in with the girls while Hopper was working when someone started pounding at the front door. Billy went stiff. He wasn't expecting anyone.

"You guys invite anyone up," Billy asked. 

"No," Max answered, clearly sharing the same fear he had. Neil had found them. Jane, however, was completely at ease. 

"It's Steve," she announced. The knocking came again. 

"Alright. I'm coming," Billy called out. "Max. Come watch this." 

Max took over at the stove and Billy wiped his hands on a dish towel slung over his shoulder. Just as Jane predicted, Steve was standing at the door to the cabin, his face flushed and a giant smile on his lips. 

"Harrington, I swear to God, if you came all the way up here to tell me you got laid-"

"You said you haven't seen your mom in twelve years," Steve said, letting himself inside and diving right in.

"What?" Billy looked at him with curiosity and concern. He seemed almost manic, making Billy worried that he may have taken something. 

"That night when we were waiting for the kids and Elvis came on," Steve explained. "You said you haven't seen her in twelve years."

Billy stared at Steve, still not following. "Yeah? And?'

Steve's smile grew impossibly wider and he took Billy by the shoulders. 

"Do you want to?"

Billy's heart stopped. His chest ached and he didn't understand. Steve had Max and Jane’s attention on him too, the pair not even pretending they weren’t listening to every word.

"Steve, what are you talking about?"

"I found her!" Steve reached behind himself, pulling out a Manilla envelope he had tucked into his waistband. "Look-look-look! She's still in California, see? She lives in Santa Cruz and she owns her own Crystal shop and-and she's there! Look at the pictures!"

He flipped open the folder and showed Billy black and white shots of a woman. Opening a shop called "Illuminate", standing on the beach in a sundress and one of the big hats she had always loved, out to lunch with someone at a little cafe and she was laughing. Billy took the folder from Steve, his hands shaking. He would know that face anywhere. It was burned into his memory. She was beautiful as she had ever been. She was happy. Billy's eyes welled up and he ran his fingers reverently over the outline of her face. 

"Where did you get these," he asked, his voice breathy and soft.

"I hired a guy," Steve told him. "He was able to track her down from the divorce records. She bounced around a lot but she settled down here about four years ago and just stayed put."

Billy couldn't believe what he was looking at. It was his mom. And she was alive and happy and her pretty face was as perfect as it had been that day on the beach. There were no more bruises. No more black eyes or split and swollen lips. She was safe. 

"I don't understand." He looked up at Steve again, eyes wide and unsure. "Why? Why did you do all this?"

"Because you deserve to know," Steve said. "You loved her, Billy. You still do. And now you know she's still there. You can see her. You can go to California and you can see your mom again."

Present

It was two hours on the road and Steve started getting antsy as they approached the border into Illinois. He shifted in his seat, watching the signs pass them by. Each one was closer and closer to the edge and he looked like he would squirm right out of his seat.

“I’m not stopping for a pee break already, Harrington,” Billy told him. “What are you squirming about over there?”

“Nothing,” Steve defended. “It’s just...I’ve never left Indiana before.”

Billy choked on his own spit. He whipped his head toward Steve, staring at him in disbelief. 

“Are you fuckin’ serious? You’re rich! You’re telling me you’ve never been skiing in Colorado or spent a summer in Cancun?”

“I’ve never been skiing ever,” Steve admitted. “My parents travel all the time but they always hired someone to watch me. At least until I got old enough to watch myself.”

Billy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. All that money, that big house and the expensive, fancy new car… But what good was a big house with no one in it? Even worse was that Steve seemed completely unfazed by it all. He knew for a fact that Steve’s parents traveled constantly. They were out of the country three times in the last six months. It just never really registered to Billy that Steve hadn’t gone with them once in the time he’d known him.

“No. No way, man. That’s too sad for even me to make fun of. We’re makin’ some stops. This just turned into a fucking road trip to end all road trips.”

“We’re already driving all the way across the country,” Steve said, rolling his eyes. 

“And you’ve never fucking seen any of it! We’re fixing this and we’re starting today. Get the map.” 

“Billy, really-”

“I said get the map!”

Steve sighed and popped open the glove box. The map was carefully marked, Jim having sat down with them to plot out the best route to get where they were going. It was the most direct, efficient path possible. And Billy was more than eager to ruin that. 

“We’re going through St. Louis already, aren’t we,” Billy asked. Steve traced the path with his finger, scanning the names along the route. 

“It’s on the way, yeah.” 

Billy nodded. “We’re stopping. And you’re gonna have the best ribs of your damn life, Stevie boy.”

“You’re serious,” Steve said, staring at Billy in the driver’s seat. “You’re actually serious. Billy, this is already a trip and a half to make-”

“So what’s a few more stops? Welcome to your first vacation, Steve.”

Steve laughed, shaking his head. “Whatever you say, Billy. You’re the driver.”

“That’s right,” Billy told him. “I’m the captain of this ship, Harrington and that means we’re going where I say.”

“Can I at least pick the music?” 

“Absolutely fucking not.”

Steve had found his mother for him. He’d done that without asking anything in return. He had done it just so Billy could see her. This was how Billy would return the favor. He’d show Steve everything he could along the way. This was going to be Steve’s trip just as much as it was his. He popped in the first cassette he’d hand crafted for the trip and Danger Zone blared through the speakers. Steve threw his head back and laughed. 

“Alright, Maverick,” he teased. Billy grinned, dropping his sunglasses down onto his face. He reached over and grabbed the map, pressing it against Steve’s chest. 

“You’re my eyes, Goose.”

“I don’t wanna be Goose!” Steve protested. 

“What’s wrong with Goose?” Billy asked.

“He dies!” Billy shrugged. 

“So do better.” He gunned the engine, grinning wider when the Camaro roared and they took the empty highway going 90.


End file.
